A few months ago, I was going through a little bit of a funk and felt kind of blah. I thought I needed to do something to help me get my mind off what I was feeling.  I remembered hearing a while ago that doing Temple and Family History work would help with what I was feeling.  I decided to start indexing.  I tried to spend some of my time by consistently indexing records on familysearch.org.  I indexed both birth records and death records. Sometimes I’d index the names and other information and not even really think about it- just indexed away.   It was great to see the confetti drop on the screen each time I’d submit a batch.  There were several times that I’d see information on a record that would spark my interest; and I’d spend more time viewing the record.  As I did this, the people whose names were on the record became real to me.  I started connecting with these people I didn’t even know.  I was sad at times when I’d do the death records knowing someone had passed away when they were young; or thinking about people who had lost a loved one.  I was super excited when I came across twins a couple of times; and had to send some texts to my family history friends that I serve with at the family history center. They cheered along with me, and gave me virtual “high fives”. 

I continued to index records and found that  I loved indexing the Wisconsin birth records at that time.   Often, I would be indexing these records late at night into the early morning.  One time late at night I came across a name of someone who had the same last name as my maiden name.  Before I even finished indexing that record, and just for fun, I stopped for a minute and opened my phone to the Family Tree app to see if we were related.  We were not, but, I found out some really neat things about him, saw a couple of photos of him- and found out that he passed away in Vietnam while serving in the military.  I saw that he had some record hints, so I checked those and added them to his person page. I checked his father and mother and saw that they had record hints too that needed to be checked and added to their person pages.  I felt an urgency to help this family- to help them get these records attached.  I thought even though we weren’t related, we are all brothers and sisters in the gospel; and we are here to help each other.  I finished indexing his record as well as some more records that night; and I didn’t return to this gentleman and his family for a couple of weeks. 

When I came back to this gentleman and his family, I worked on checking information and adding sources to his family tree.  It was about 1 A.M. when the thought came to me to check again to see if we’re related.  I did it almost with a chuckle because last time I checked, we weren’t related.  Imagine my surprise to find out I WAS RELATED TO HIM!  We were 10th cousins!! Even though my maiden name is the same as the gentleman’s last name, I am actually related to him through my mother’s side.  After attaching records to his and his family’s pages, it now showed a relationship to me.  No wonder I felt a pull to help this family!  They were MY FAMILY!  I had to celebrate!  I needed to share my good news with someone.  My son and his friends were at my house at the time, so I excitedly shared the news with him. I then shared this great news with my family history friends.  Naturally I sent them a text message at 1:14 am. 

Another experience I had recently occurred when I was indexing some of the Church Census Records.  I came across the last name that was the same as my grandmother’s maiden name. That sparked some interest in me.  Before I finished indexing that record, I quickly went to my phone, opened the Family Tree app and did a search for this person.  I found out I WAS RELATED to this person.  She was my 2nd cousin twice removed.  We are related through my 3rd great grandfather’s other wife.  Amazing.

I realize that indexing doesn’t always bring these literal family connections like it did for me.  I am so grateful for this experience.  Grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who is watching out for all his children no matter where they are; and helps them.  He helped me feel better by bringing light, joy, excitement into my life through indexing.  Sometimes people don’t get excited to do indexing, don’t think it’s fun, don’t understand how to index, or believe that it’s too difficult.  I’d encourage you to try it anyway.  See what it can do for you.  I promise that it will bless your life and the lives of those individuals you are serving through indexing their records.

Indexing is part of a sacred work.  We are literally helping our brothers and sisters on both sides of the veil.  When you think about it, that is exciting!  We are helping make these indexed records searchable for families and individuals who are seeking their information. –Michelle Babcock, Youth/Primary director, Granite Family History Center